Karsch and Jansen announced as new football play by play and color analyst

Karsch:  "We'll let you know if Michigan scored after these messages."

Would’ve rather had Matt Sheperd calling the games, but it would’ve conflicted with the Tigers late season schedule.

WOW!!!! Didn't know Karsch was  a Play-by-Play guy.     BEST OF LUCK TO THE BOTH OF THEM!!!!

Good luck to both of them. Karsch has kind of a rough, gravelly voice for play by play, but I bet he grows into the role. 

Nice.

Darn it. I missed it by that much.

Karsch is a lot taller than people think.

Good picks. This will be an upgrade for radio. 

Not sure about Karsch, have never heard him do play-by-play and am not super impressed when I listened to 97.1. I think Jansen will carry the team as he has the knowledge and charisma. Can't be any worse than Brandstater, right??

Shoulda brought in Rod Allen and Impemba and let them brawl it out in the booth each Saturday.

Optimistic... but reserving judgement.

No to jansen. Top 3 worst local Detroit radio voices. Riger, valenti, and Jansen. Riger sucks and Jansen adds nothing to his show w Stoney. Just a blah voice that doesn’t know that the “h” in vehicle is silent.

Looking forward to the change. Should have happened years ago, but now is better than later..

Before the new team was announced....it was an upgrade.

Congrats fellas.... hope you do well and call 12 or 13 wins in your first season.

Good for Karsch. He's paid his dues in the industry, it seems, working on the sidelines and hosting various radio and TV shows around the team for years. He's 52, so he should be able to have a run of 20+ years, if he wants it. Good continuity for the fans, who listened to Ufer and Beckmann for 30+ years each. 

Interesting coincidence that Karsch went to MSU, while MSU's PbP announcer, George Blaha, graduated from U-M (with his MBA, he was Notre Dame undergrad).

Karsch!?!?!!  I guess I gotta listen to the TV broadcast still. Bummer.

Guess I won't be listening. I can't deal with Karsch's voice at all, sounds like he's choking on a crusty sock. 

Karsch called the Quick Lane Bowl this year and I liked him much more than I thought I would.  Think most fans will enjoy this combo.  They'll at least know what's happening during each play..

I like Doug, but you would think that with the network of alumni in the sports broadcasting field, they could have paid some $$$ to get an experienced PBP guy. I love Jansen on BTN and ESPNU radio, so I think he'll do fine.

One thing I know for sure is that they hit the CFB requirement of two absolute homers in the radio broadcasting booth.

Shep  used to fill in all the time for all of the teams. I used to hear him on random HS football games on Friday on channels outside of ESPN. There were plenty of opportunities to hear Shep do PBP. I have never heard Karsch call anything. The thing about Karsch is he is young enough that he will probably be the last PBP guy hear on the radio for a long time. 

@Brainstorm93 SECOND DECK!

Karsch getting a chance. Doug will do very well

^^ is that a picture of Karsch and Brian Kelly?

I caught Karsch covering Michigan hockey on the radio, he was filling in. Thought he was pretty solid. I know he’s covered bowl games before as others have said, but haven’t heard them. I’ll give him a chance, at the minimum it will be an upgrade. I’ve been listening to him for 20 plus years since his WTKA years and I’m glad he’s getting the opportunity.

I like Karsch dating back to his WTKA days. I’m happy for him; he is the definition of “paid his dues” here.

Which is also cause for trepidation, because you can work hard and be a good broadcaster and still not really be well-suited to the unique needs of play-by-play, particularly on radio. And while I don’t dislike Karsch’s voice, it’s not one that automatically suggests gravitas in the vein of a Dierdorf or (to use an example most will understand) Brad Nessler.

But I haven’t heard him do PbP in 25 years. So if he has worked on the skills (and it’s good to hear that he did the Quick Lane Bowl, probably not a coincidence with this) and nails delivery, he has the passion and knowledge to be good.

Just had to nail delivery. Good for both of these guys, I wish them well. 

I've always liked Doug Karsch.   

He's the perfect age.  He's knows the history of the program very well.  If a receiver looks Anthony Carter like on a particular play, he'd be sure to point it out...and nerdy nostalgic people like me appreciate that.  He's certainly good at all the in-between chatter whether it's about a play or we're killing time from our 57th commercial break in the 1st quarter.  

I wonder how his play by play will sound.  I'm having trouble picturing him screaming, "Touchdown Michigan!!"  But maybe he'll surprise me.  

I like it. Karsch knows his stuff and Jansen certainly has a strong grip on the technical aspects of the game.  Karsch has more than enough experience to hold his own in the booth. I'm looking forward to the season.

There are.......

Congrats to them both and Go Blue!

I'm a big fan of John and I like Doug just fine. Looking forward to hearing them on those unavoidable occasions where I can't be in front of a TV which happens a couple of times a season.

Play-by-play is tricky, because you need to translate the activity on the field to the listener with both excitement and economy. Still, I'm hopeful for this pairing. 

Someone above wrote: "One thing I know for sure is that they hit the CFB requirement of two absolute homers in the radio broadcasting booth." I've always kinda loved this about the game announcing, even when it was a little messy. Reminds me of my days as a high school kid in Ann Arbor, listening to the games. Not everything has to be honed until it's flavorless. 

Wish it had been Brian Boesch and Jansen but hope Karsh is solid.

Was Doug Karsch on WTKA back in the day? Basically the first Sam Webb? I don't listen to much 97.1 but I've heard him a few times, he seems very dry, not much personality. I've always like Jansen from when he was on big ten network, very charismatic. 

It seems like Doug Karsch was the big gamble here. I don't believe he has any experience outside of maybe high school sports. I could be wrong tho. None the less Play by play for the winningest football program in history is no small task. Best of luck to him.

Also agree with above poster Matt Shepard would of been great but I guess he's kinda busy .

Time to start a new tradition.  Ufer, Beckmann, and Brandstatter will never be duplicated.  God bless them all, the first two in memoriam of course. We have been so blessed that their combined tradition of excellence has been with us for so long.

Best wishes to Doug Karsch and Jon Jansen.  Picking those two also brings some memories of '97 and the Carr years.  They certainly know what a winning team looks and sounds like, as well as how it should perform!  And they are well aware of the shoes they are filling.

Go New Blue!

(Just noticed the above message from A2Townie about Doug Karsch.  I may be wrong but when he was on 1050, I think it was WPZA and before Monaghan sold the station.)

Good, huge upgrade.  Brandstatter and Dierdorf were both bad.   Great guys though.

Karsch was the sports guy on WTKA when I first started listening back in 1994.

That's 28 years ago. Gulp.

He knows UM football as well as anybody, and while I don't think he's got the classic voice for PBP, I think he deserves the opportunity.

Think Jansen will be great. Karsch shep et al will be meh. It is what it is. 

It’s a day that ends in Y so mgoblog users are taking shots at Brandstatter.  I thought we’d be done with this now that he’s retired but some people are going to string it along.  
 

Ah well, good luck to the new team!  I was hoping for Dickerson but that was always a pipe dream 

Good for Karsch and Jansen. 

For some reason Karsch line of “swelling is down” from his WTKA days has stuck with me. Can’t believe he’s 52, Seems impossible. He will be very popular and unique, with a depth of knowledge of Michigan football no other candidate could match. 

Jansen very good pick too. Go Clawson!! He too, I think, will bring his own unique knowledge and experience, with a couple shots of exuberance. 

I will definitely be listening in. 

Who is going to replace Karsch on the sidelines?? Braylon Edwards?? Wolverine Devotee??

Karsch better learn his Sparty fandom at the door....

Was pretty sure Jansen would get one chair, likely the color job, so just assumed they'd have to go outside Ann Arbor for a play-by-play guy. Still, I'll be interested to see how Karsch does. He does a good job in whichever capacities they have him on game days, so I suspect he'll do well at this as well. Go Blue in '22!

@oldschoolwolverine Karsch was raised in Ann Arbor and has always been a Michigan fan. Valenti has even implied he has a grudge against him because he was among the few students at MSU who were closet Michigan fans.

Honestly, I couldn't pick either voice out of a lineup, but I don't live within range, so good luck, men!